Media Life, one of the pioneers of digital publishing for the ad industry, said it is shutting down, nearly 18 years after it was launched by Editor in Chief Gene Ely.

Its demise was announced in a farewell note on its site on Thursday. But in a note to Media Ink, Ely suggested it would return in a new incarnation.

“We expect to come back with related projects, and it just made sense to close down Media Life in order to get those rolling,” Ely told Media Ink, but declined to reveal specifics.

“They were trailblazers and, for a while, they had a novel position doing it all digitally,” said one ad professional. Its rivals include the digital MediaPost, backed by former Adweek co-owner Ken Fadner, and the two major print trades Crain Communications-owned Advertising Age and Adweek, now owned by Canadian private equity firm Beringer Capital. Media Life kept its edit staff small and never hired an ad sales staff.

“Those nearly 18 years just flew by,” Media Life said on its site Thursday. “Now it’s coming to an end. We are closing down Media Life. It’s time for us to move on to other things.”

The note was signed by “the editors.” Ely declined to say what his new project might be.